Can anyone give me a ballpark figure to change out the 3.31 gears w/E locker to 3.55 w/E locker? And could I get an 'assembly' that I could install in the driveway?

 

I would wonder how pricey that might be...

 

Well, unless you know how to set up a set of differential gears (pinion depth, backlash, etc.) and have the necessary tools to do it properly you'll need to pay someone to do it for you. The last time a friend of mine took a 2 WD pickup in for a gear swap to the local 4X4 shop, parts and labor ran about $1200. That was with an open diff.


If you're talking about a 4X4 with an e-locker in the rear I would think a ballpark number would be $2500 - $3000. Depending on where you live, it could be lower or a LOT higher.

 

It's a 2wd w/e locker rear. I have setup rear end gears before but that was on a lift. I wasn't sure if the rear was a third member type or had some sort of 'cassette' that could be purchased and just swapped out.

 

you only need to swap the ring and pinion, you will reuse the locker. that would probably run around $700 - 800 or so id expect...

 

Why only go with a 3.55? Not much of a difference. I would go with 3.73s. Is this to run bigger tires?

 

The least expensive way would probably be to search for axles from wrecked trucks.

I’ve swapped a rear axle from one truck to another nearly identical one to get the posi and better gears. It was backbreaking to do in the driveway and took longer than expected.

 

More of curiosity than anything. And you are right. If one were to make a change like this it would make more sense to go 3.73s

 

If I keep this truck, I'm looking to go with 3.73 just so I can go with bigger tires.

 

I wonder what would be faster, the gears or the whole axle?

 

If I had to guess, somebody with to tools and knowledge on gear swaps would win the race. Swapping gears is less labor intensive than swapping entire axle assemblies.

 

I have no idea. It took us several hours, but we were doing 2 trucks. It wasn’t a spare axle, we put the trucks next to each other and got work swapping the axles.

If you had the axle just sitting there, I’d put my money on a competent mechanic doing the full axle quicker....but again, it’s just a guess. I’ve had guys quote me a day to change gear ratios because they can be tough to set just right. I’ve never done it myself, I’ve been told that you set the initial gear lash but then you need to drive it and recheck them. Sometimes it must be done multiple times. Maybe that’s not true, I’m just relaying what I’ve been told. We just disconnected everything, moved the parts over, reconnected everything, and bled the brakes. Either way, I just can’t answer that question, I can only guess. I would bet a NASCAR mechanic could do the gears a lot faster than the full axle, don’t they change gearing pretty often for the different tracks? Now I’m second guessing my initial guess! LoL

Maybe the real advantage of doing the whole axle is that pretty much anyone can do it and no special tools or skills are needed. We were just a couple of broke guys doing it. It was free. We did the same thing with our mirrors once too. I had a 4x4 with small dinky mirrors and he had a 2wd with the larger trailer tow mirrors, so swapped those too. This was on mid-90’s Dodge Dakota’s....

 

Swapping axles requires a 4 wheel alignment and you're not going to do that in a driveway.

 

You've been misinformed.

You don't need a 4 wheel alignment after swapping rear axles. You're not even touching the front. That leaves the thrust angle....which, yes, you can easily do in your driveway.

Your solid rear axle has locating pins that set them to the leafspring pads, changing the same axles to the same trucks meant everything lined up perfectly.

When we installed the axles, we measured from the centerline of the truck (I don't recall exacly what we used, but it was a spot near the transmission) to the outer edges of the axle. The locating pins get you real close, but before tighting up the shackles, you make sure your measurements are the same from each side to the centerpoint on the truck that is forward of the axle. That's what thrust angle is and it doesn't require special tools or going anywhere to be done.

I'm just trying to help you, by throwing out this option. It doesn't bother me which method you choose, assuming you even choose to do it.

 

It's not just side to side alignment but also front to back. Regardless it sounds like too much to deal with on your back in a driveway. At least for this old fart......